


Erik is a Stupid Head

by For-Chan Cookie (ForChanCookie)



Series: Kids Say the Darndest Things [1]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, Misunderstanding, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-24
Updated: 2012-05-24
Packaged: 2017-11-05 22:32:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/411718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForChanCookie/pseuds/For-Chan%20Cookie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Jean Grey demands to know where the Professor's husband is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Erik is a Stupid Head

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic a while back for [this prompt](http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/2439.html?thread=1488007#t1488007) on the xmen_firstkink meme.

Hank was sitting at his desk sorting through some notes. Charles was out with a nasty bout of pneumonia and Hank was left overseeing the school. He has just picked up a pen to start signing papers when the doors to his office flew open with far too much force for the tiny girl standing in the entryway to have caused.

"Jean," he said sternly. "You know that you have to control your powers in the house."

Jean gave him a defiant look as she marched into his office and stood before his desk, arms crossed, chin jutting out angrily. Her fiery red hair was floating around her as her obvious anger made her telekinesis run wild. 

Hank frowned and set his papers aside, setting a paperweight on them, lest they get swept up in Jean's anger. "What's wrong Jean?" He asked.

"Why didn't anyone tell us?" She demanded.

"Tell you what?" Hank asked patiently. The telepaths of the house seemed to forget that not everyone could read minds.

"That the Professor is married!" She cried, throwing her hands out in exasperation. Hank’s pen flew across the room, caught up in the eddies of Jean's power.

Hank's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Nobody told us that the Professor is married! Where is his husband? Doesn’t he live here? Why haven't we met him? The Professor needs him!" Jean stomped her foot for emphasis.

"Jean," Hank said softly. "The Professor isn't married."

"That's a lie! He loves him so much. I can feel it! He wants him here Dr. Hank. He wants him."

Hank sighed. He knew exactly who she was talking about. He wasn't really sure how to explain it to the ten year old girl. Charles had put a damper on her powerful telepathy while she grew up, choosing to let her focus on her telekinesis until she was old enough to deal with the constant feedback of minds. In Charles' state, he must have been broadcasting his fevered dreams and she picked them up. He wasn't sure how he could explain Erik to Jean. It was a complicated situation and she was still at an age where love meant marriage and happy endings, not the heartbreak that Charles had suffered.

"The Professor was in love once," Hank began, only to be firmly interrupted.

" _Is_ in love! The Professor _is_ in love!" Jean insisted.

Hank's chest tightened. Jean wasn't making it easy on him.

"You're right Jean. The Professor is in love. He loves someone very much, but they never married."

Jean frowned. "Why not?"

"Not everyone who is in love can marry," Hank explained.

"Is it because they're boys?"

"No. That's not it. Sometimes, no matter how much you love someone, you can't be with them."

Jean's bottom lip quivered. "But why not?" She asked in a small voice.

Hank stood up, moving around his desk to kneel before her. He took her hands into his, squeezing them gently. "For the Professor and his love-"

"Erik?"

"Yes, Erik. They believe in different things. Erik doesn't believe that there is good in the world and the Professor does. He believes that there's good in everybody. Especially Erik. That's why he loves him so much, no matter what he does."

"Does Erik love the Professor?" Jean asked.

Hank froze, not sure how to answer that. Erik had left after all. He'd left Charles bleeding out on a beach with no help in sight. Hank always found it hard to believe anyone who could do that had feelings, let alone love in their heart. "I don't know Jean. I...I hope so, for the Professor's sake."

Big fat tears gathered in the corners of Jean's eyes before streaming down her cheeks. "It's not fair. The Professor really loves him and he wants him here. I can feel it Dr. Hank. The Professor's heart hurts."

"Oh Jean," he murmured, gathering her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry you have to feel that. The Professor doesn't mean to hurt you. He's sick right now."

Jean shook her head fiercely, pulling away. She rubbed her tears away with her arm. "He's not hurting me. I was trying to help him by getting his...Erik. But if Erik is a stupid head, then we don’t need him! I love the Professor lots more than Erik. I'll love him forever and never run away!"

Hank smiled. "I'm sure he appreciates the sentiment Jean."

She nodded. “I’m going to go make the Professor a card to tell him that I love him more than anyone else in the universe!”

“He’ll like that. Maybe you should get Scott and the others to make cards too,” he suggested.

Jean considered the idea. “Ok, but I still love him more than them.”

Hank chuckled. “All right Jean,” he said, ruffling her hair. “Go make your card now. You can give it to him with his dinner. How about that?”

“All right.” She turned and practically flew from his office, her toes just barely touching the ground as she carried herself along on sheer power and enthusiasm.

Hank smiled again, but it was bittersweet. The children loved Charles and Charles loved them back. He only hoped that one day that love would swell enough to fill the hole in his heart that Erik had left behind.


End file.
